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"Emaar Properties is considering the flotation of overseas units and its hotels arm to generate more growth capital and to return cash to shareholders.

The company has told investors that it is looking to “monetise core assets" through further initial public offerings of business divisions, such as its Turkish and Indian units, or through the creation of real estate investment trusts (Reits).

A spokesman for the company told The National that creating independent listed companies for individual segments or international arms of its group would “provide the businesses with appropriate financial and operational means to grow faster and become among the most successful companies in their industries"."

"The Saudi Arabian government has told local banks that it will sell them 20 billion riyals ($5.3 billion; Dh19.56 million) of three-, five- and seven-year bonds, with floating as well as fixed rates, the Maaal financial website quoted sources as saying on Sunday. Allocations of the bonds will be made on Monday, Maaal said.

The government has been selling 20 billion riyals of bonds every month since last August to cover a budget deficit created by low oil prices.

Among the new fixed-rate bonds, the three-year tranche will be priced at 55-60 basis points (BPS) over US Treasuries, the five-year tranche at 61-66 bps over and the seven-year tranche at 72-77 bps over, Maaal said."

"Al Masah Capital Management Ltd, a Dubai-based investment firm, is considering an initial public offering of its Al Najah Education Ltd business in New York or London.

Al Masah plans to start working on the share sale in 2018 and list on the Nasdaq or in the UK capital depending on market conditions, Chief Executive Officer Shailesh Dash said in an interview. Al Najah, set up by Al Masah in 2012, operates schools and nurseries in the UAE, Singapore and Oman. He declined to give a potential value.

The investment firm is also planning an IPO of health care service provider Avivo Group and plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange next year, Dash said. The company expects to raise about $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) from the sale, he said. MEED reported earlier this month that Al Masah had hired banks for the Avivo offering."

"NMC Health, the United Arab Emirates-based healthcare provider, expects earnings to increase by 45 percent this year on the back of recent and future acquisitions as well as organic growth, its deputy chief executive said on Sunday.

The company could also tap loan and convertible bond markets to supplement the near-$300 million it has available for acquisitions, Prasanth Manghat told Reuters.

NMC, like a number of other healthcare companies, is benefiting from substantial growth in the UAE healthcare sector as an increasingly wealthy population becomes more susceptible to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes."

"Telecommunications firm Zain Saudi led Riyadh's stock market up on Sunday, while Egypt's bourse stalled after soaring last week in response to a currency devaluation. Most Gulf markets moved little, digesting strong rallies since mid-February.

The Saudi stock index climbed 1.4 percent in active trade to 6,482 points, testing technical resistance on its 100 day average, now at 6,470 points. Sunday saw the index close above that average for the first time since June last year, when the slide in oil prices was pushing the bourse into a downtrend.

Zain Saudi jumped 9.4 percent in its heaviest trade since last September, bringing its gains to 23 percent since Reuters reported on Wednesday that its Kuwaiti parent Zain was narrowing the field of potential bidders for its mobile transmitter towers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait."

"Egyptian stocks were set to extend their record winning streak as investors bet last week’s currency devaluation will boost the economy of the most populous Arab nation. Abu Dhabi shares fell as traders cashed in following the biggest jump since January.
The EGX 30 Index rose 0.5 percent as of 12:51 p.m. in Cairo, extending its advance for a 12th day, the longest rally since Bloomberg started tracking the measure in 1998. About 261 million shares traded, compared with a one-year full daily average of 198 million. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index retreated the most in two months.
Undeterred by the biggest interest rate increase in at least 10 years, investors piled into Egyptian stocks after the central bank weakened the currency 13 percent last week, the most since 2003. The devaluation was part of policy makers’ plan to lure foreign investment and alleviate a dollar shortage that has crippled North Africa’s biggest economy. The EGX 30 entered a bull market this month and is now up 32 percent from a two year-low in January."

"Saudi Arabia's stock market rose in early trade on Sunday after oil prices closed last week on a strong note, with Brent oil above $41 a barrel. Egypt consolidated after soaring 14 percent last week in response to the devaluation of the currency.

The Saudi index climbed 0.8 percent in the first 20 minutes on broad-based buying; nine of the 10 most heavily traded stocks gained.

Telecommunications firm Zain Saudi, which had jumped 8.9 percent on Thursday after sources told Reuters that its Kuwaiti parent Zain was narrowing the field of potential bidders for 7,000 towers owned by the Saudi firm, added a further 3.1 percent."

GISS, Qatar's most heavily traded stock, gained 0.9 percent after it said it had taken steps boost its asset utilisation rates; operating charges would now be indexed to crude oil prices, enabling positive changes when oil prices increased, it said.

Qatar's index was roughly flat in the opening minutes as six of the 10 most active stocks rose."

"Abu Dhabi stocks headed for the steepest drop in two months, leading declines across most Gulf Arab equity markets, as traders locked in gains following the biggest jump since January.
The ADX General Index fell 2.5 percent to 4,366.80 at 11:52 a.m. local time, the biggest slide since Jan. 20 on a closing basis. The gauge climbed the most in seven weeks on Thursday. First Gulf Bank PJSC and Emirates Telecommunications Group Co., which together account for more than half of the gauge, led the emirate’s stocks lower. Dubai’s DFM General Index slipped 0.4 percent and Qatar’s QE Index was little changed.
The declines pare a rebound in most markets across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which in January slumped as oil traded at the lowest in more than a decade. Stocks in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar have since entered bull markets as oil recovered to above $40 per barrel and the cheapest stocks in at least five years lured investors back. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the region’s biggest companies, climbed for five straight weeks ending March 17, the longest rising streak in almost a year."